Anderson Kill & Olick, one of the higher-profile insurancerecovery law firms, is closing its Chicago office and losing morethan 55 of its attorneys to the giant global law firm ReedSmith.

Among the attorneys announced as making the move are LawrenceKill, a partner and co-chair of its antitrust/unfair competitiongroup, and Jeffrey L. Glatzer, the firm-wide president and chiefexecutive officer.

Anderson Kill said in a statement that the exodus of lawyers,which includes 26 of 69 partners or "shareholders," is an "amicabledeparture" and 77 lawyers would remain with the firm.

"We recently held merger discussions with Reed Smith. Weterminated the discussions because of conflicts of interestissues," said Robert Horkovich, Executive Committee member andchair of Anderson Kill's insurance recovery group.

Mr. Horkovich said that "in a rare departure from how thesechanges usually occur, Anderson Kill and Reed Smith are cooperatingon this change and are coordinating the transition."

For the moment, most of the exiting group will not be leavingthe building. Reed Smith said the largest group of attorneys, whowill join Reed Smith's New York office, for an interim period, willremain on one floor of Anderson Kill's Avenue of the Americasoffice, which Reed Smith will sublease.

Once Reed Smith completes the build-out of its current officespace at 599 Lexington Ave., the firm said all lawyers and staffwill move to that location.

In addition to New York, Reed Smith has 12 offices in the U.S.and 13 in Europe and Asia. The firm has 1,600 lawyers.

In addition to Reed Smith's New York office, two partners andseven associates will be added to its Philadelphia office; andanother two partners and one associate to its Chicago office.

Anderson is closing its four-attorney Chicago office and willcontinue to have offices in New York, Philadelphia, Newark,Washington, D.C. and Greenwich, Conn.

Attorneys joining Reed Smith will primarily become part of threepractice groups--insurance recovery, bankruptcy and restructuringand commercial litigation, Reed Smith said.

As a result of the shift, Anderson said it has restructured itslead practice areas to focus the firm's efforts on its coreinsurance recovery practice, along with other practices incorporate and securities, litigation, real estate and construction,tax, trusts and estates, bankruptcy and restructuring, andintellectual property.

The law firm's statement said that its merger discussions withReed Smith gave Anderson Kill an opportunity to consider moving toa larger platform, but that "the substantial majority ofshareholders decided that such a move was not best for AndersonKill or its clients."

Bradford Hildebrandt, chairman of Hildebrandt Internationalsaid, "This is truly a unique situation. The change will help bothfirms. Anderson Kill will be able to refocus on its insurancerecovery practice. Reed Smith is able to add attorneys to its corepractices who will benefit from the larger platform."

Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith's Global Managing Partner, saidthe attorneys joining the firm "are high-performing individualswhose practice interests and clients are compatible with our firm'sexisting platform, as well as with our long-term strategic plansfor future growth.

Eugene R. Anderson, founder and lead name partner of the firmsaid, "Anderson Kill shall move forward as the leading insurancerecovery firm in the world. And we shall move forward in our othercore practices."

Anderson Kill said attorneys staying with the firm note a numberof advantages. The firm said these include "no insurance companyconflicts," and more personalized service than larger firms.

The firm said "numerous" clients previously serviced bydeparting attorneys have expressed a desire to continue withAnderson Kill. Mr. Horkovich said the restructured Anderson Kill isfinancially strong, having invested heavily in the firm for thefuture and having eliminated all debt.